


Let Our Hearts Beat as One

by Sugarbubbleslove



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, F/M, Female Friendship, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, You really can't tell it was set in Uni, fun winding Gray up, its not what seems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-20 18:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15540183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugarbubbleslove/pseuds/Sugarbubbleslove
Summary: Fairy Tail was more than a guild; it was a family. (It doesn't mean they can't beat each other up though)Chapter 2: The Woman of Rain: Gray/Juvia (kind of) - Summary: Every time he saw her – it was raining (university Au)





	1. The Devious Game - Natsu/Juvia/Lucy??, Natsu/Lucy, Juvia/Gray

Title: Let Our Hearts Beat as One

Characters: Natsu, Lucy, Juvia, Gray, and Happy with the Cast of Fairy Tail

Pairings: Natsu/Lucy, Juvia/Gray, Natsu/Juvia/Lucy? (others will be added – I guess)

Rating: Teen to Mature

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone/anything from the forum Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and its characters. There is no copyright infringement intended. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit.

Summary: Fairy Tail was more than a guild; it was a family. (It doesn't mean they can't beat each up though)

Timeline: throughout the series

Warning: Teasing, Jealousy, sexual themes. (All appropriate warnings are in the 'Warning' section.

Author's Notes: I think I have lost my capability to write a long-fic so here are a bunch of one shots.

Title: The Devious Game

Pairings: Natsu/Juvia/Lucy??, Juvia/Gray, Natsu/Lucy

Rating: Teen

Summary: He doesn't know when it happened, but it happened.

Timeline: Post the Grand Magic Games

Warnings: Jealousy, having fun winding Gray up

Author's Notes: This idea came to me as a way to knock some sense into Gray – and who is better than our Fire Salamander and Celestial Spirit Mage?

'The Devious Game'

They were an odd combination. No one was even sure how it even came to be, yet here they were. And Gray was not sure how he should feel about it.

The water mage – Juvia – sat at a table with a book in one hand and a cup in the other, smiling softly as her attention was riveted.

Across from her sat the fire salamander, head on the table as he stared – Gray noticed with irritation – at Juvia with a soft smile on his face.

He might have slammed his cup harder on the counter than he intended as his actions drew the attention of a concerned Mirajane.

Gray ignored the way the concern turned to a look of knowing before she returned to serving the others and he attention turned back to the strange fire and water combination.

All he knows is that he returned from a mission with Erza to find Natsu was spending his time with Juvia, much to everyone's bewilderment as the two of them became close.

How close was anyone's guess and, as much as it pained him to admit it, it irked him to see Natsu fawning all over Juvia, and to see the water mage doing the same to Natsu.

And here he was thinking Natsu liked Lucy. He certainly got all fired up whenever the celestial mage was in danger.

Juvia's laugher caught his attention and he focused to see she was smiling brightly while Natsu gave her a bright grin and thumbs up, his head still on the table and a flare of jealousy surged through him.

It was bad enough he had to deal with Lyon trying to steal Juvia away to join his Guild without him having to deal with Natsu in the process.

"What's the glare for?" a familiar voice asked from his side and he turned to see Lucy standing there with gentle smile and a flyer in her hand.

"When did you get here?" he asked, diverting the conversation. Lucy arched an eyebrow.

"Just arrived. Natsu and I are going out on a quest," She winced as her smile turned strained. "Rent is due soon so I need money."

"Oh?" he really hadn't meant to perk up at this little information yet hope started to bloom inside his chest at the thought of Natsu going away. Maybe now he could have a chance to spend some time with Juvia. Especially since she said she was going with Natsu, that meant he and Erza was not needed, "How long will you be gone for?"

"Mmm, I think maybe three days?" she told him with a one-shoulder shrug and a bright smile. "Information is a little on the vague side. So we won't actually know what we are dealing with until we get there."

That really shouldn't have made him pleased.

"Good luck," he told her with a knowing smile and a raise of his cup. Both of them knew what Natsu could be like on a mission. Not that any of them were any less destructive, but Natsu somehow manage to outdo them every time. (He was responsible for most of the letters of apology Master had to send to the council).

"Lucy!" They both turned to see Natsu was now standing with Happy on his head and a bright smile on his face, one hand raised air. Juvia was still sitting, reading her book with her cup now on the table.

"Hey!" Lucy threw her own hand into the air, giving Natsu a bright grin before she turned to look at Gray before looking over his shoulder toward Mirajane. "This is the quest we are taking," she slapped the flyer onto the table. Mirajane scanned it before marking it down in her record book.

"Sure thing sweetie, good luck and have fun!" Mirajane told her with a sweet smile.

"Thanks!" Lucy replied before she looked at Gray, "Our good luck is coming with us." She winked at his confused look before she darted over to Natsu's side and he stared, horrified, as Juvia stood up, carefully placing her book into Natsu's bag.

"Later everyone!" shouted Natsu with a big grin, getting a chorus of good luck from the guild. Then his smile turned cocky when he met Gray's eyes, "Later Ice Prick!"

With that, he slung –  _slung_  – his arm over Juvia's shoulder. The two girls smiled at him, Juvia's cheeks tinted with a light blush and she gave him a shy wave as the four of them left, Happy now on Lucy's shoulder.

What the hell just happened?!

"Gray," he snarled at the person who cut into his thought only to meet Mirajane's amused expression, "Do you mind unfreezing the bar?"

Blinking, he looked down to see he had indeed froze the bar, and the patrons' drinks if their amused (well – in Cana's case, furious) expressions.

"Sorry," he muttered, unfreezing the bar before he looked toward the guild doors, half-hoping Juvia would come back through it.

There went his hope of spending any time with the water mage.

~~The Devious Game~~

 _Maybe three days his arse_ , he thought as he paced almost like a caged animal. They had been gone for nearly enough a week and it was beginning to drive him crazy and up the wall.

First, his thoughts had been innocent, hoping Juvia was doing ok. Then it started to go crazy – it didn't help with that memory of him dying protecting Juvia – and he started imagining her in all the dangerous situations that the lame flame brain could get her into.

Then it went ever further and turned into the most ridiculous things ever – imagining Juvia and Natsu in romantic situations. What was he? Juvia? He did not need to worry about that, Lucy and Happy were with them.

Not that it stopped his stupid over-active imagination trying to make him jealous. Stupid brain.

 _They had better turn up soon_ , he thought viciously, or he was going to rip of the Fire Dragon Slayer's head off for taking Juvia on a mission with him. It didn't matter that Lucy and Happy were with them, the idiot still took Juvia.

Just when he was getting ready to seethe even further, the doors opened and Natsu sauntered in with a bright smile and Happy flying around his head, chatting excitedly.

Behind him, Lucy came into view next, smiling brightly as Juvia walked beside her, both girls engrossed in a conversation.

Gray felt tension started to release from his shoulders and he smiled, about to approach them as he scanned Juvia for any signs of injuries only for his jaw to drop when he saw Lucy was holding Juvia's hands, fingers laced together and showed no signs of letting Juvia go.

And Juvia didn't seem to be in a hurry to let the blonde girl's hand go anytime soon!

What the hell happened on that mission? First he had to deal with Lyon falling heads over heels for Juvia – on their first meeting too – then he had to deal with Natsu practically abducting Juvia, now he is going to have to deal with Lucy?!

"Yo, Ice Brain!" Natsu thumped his shoulder with his fist in greeting before meeting Mirajane. "We're home!"

"Welcome home, Natsu. How did you quest fare?" Mirajane asked, happy as ever to see her family.

"Went great!" Natsu told her with a bright grin and thumbs up. "We even got our full reward too!"

"That's great, Natsu," Mirajane told her, clearly pleased for him while Gray looked at him - probably with the same expression everyone else was giving Natsu – dumfounded.

Natsu was famous for being destructive, and Lucy had complained on more than one occasion that the cost of repairing usually took up most of their rewards.

Then again, it was hardly their faults that troubles liked to pick fights in the middle of the one place they really shouldn't been picking fights.

"Juvia is our good luck charm!" Natsu declared as he slung his arm over Juvia's shoulder, who blushed under the praise.

"She's the best!" Lucy agreed, still holding onto Juvia's hand and gazed at the water mage with adoration. Juvia just seemed to blush harder that Gray was surprise that steam wasn't coming off her.

"Was the mission difficult?" Mirajane asked, clearly amused at the scene before her.

"Pff, not with Juvia around being our guardian angel," Natsu told her.

"She really helped us out. We had to go against a Dark Guild-"

"You…you took on a Dark Guild?!" Gray demanded, cutting into Lucy's explanation before he roughly shoved Natsu out of the way – ignoring the protest he got from the Fire Salamander - "Are you ok, Juvia?"

"Juvia is fine, Gray-sama," Juvia told him with a sweet smile.

"What the hell was that for?!" Natsu suddenly appeared in his line of vision, shoving him back toward the bar. "Don't go shoving me about, Ice Princess!"

"Shut it, Fire Breath!" Gray shot back with a glare of his own. "I was merely concerned for Juvia."

"Doesn't mean you get to shove me!" Natsu growled.

"Maybe if you weren't in the way, I wouldn't need to shove you!" Gray snarled as the two of them butted forehead.

"Oh, here we go again," he heard Lucy sigh. "Juvia; let us go and sit over there and we can talk about tonight."

"What about tonight?!" Gray barked, cutting his glaring contest with Natsu as he turned to look at the two women, not sure what he should be feeling at this moment.

Lucy smiled radiantly, still holding onto Juvia's hand that he was beginning to think they were glued together.

"We're going out for dinner tonight, to show our appreciation to Juvia." She sighed as she looked at Juvia to give her another look of adoration before she looked at Gray once more. "Isn't she awesome?"

Was it his imagination or did Lucy's smile just turn devious?

"That's right!" Natsu seemly forgot about the fight he was currently in with Gray and wandered over to Juvia's side, wrapping an arm over Juvia's shoulder and pulling her into a sideway embrace.

Lucy took up Juvia's other side, finally letting go of Juvia's hand only to slid her arm around Juvia's waist, leaning to rest her head on Juvia's shoulder.

"Juvia as a great help during our mission. Lucy got to see when I was so excited about and – well, as you can see – she adores her too." Natsu winked but there was something off about his smile, it had a sharp edge to it.

Was it his imagination or were the three of them in a relationship together? Were they sharing Juvia?!

He swallowed back his jealously and the urge to plant his foot into Natsu's face, kicking him away from Juvia, much like he did to Lyon when he saw the other ice mage had swept Juvia up into a bridal carry, while she was wearing a bridal dress.

"Yeah, she is pretty awesome," Gray found himself admitting, his voice soft as he looked at Juvia, whose eyes widen in surprise and it pained him to see that. It was his fault after all; he barely praised Juvia for her hard work whenever she worked with him.

"Gray-sama," Juvia gave him a small smile.

"Why don't you come out with us tonight?" Lucy asked as she lifted her head from Juvia's shoulder with a smile. "We can tell you all about our mission."

"Hey!" Natsu countered sharply as he looked at Lucy, drawing her attention. "I'm not paying for Ice Prick."

"I'll pay," Lucy rolled her eyes. "Beside, haven't you wanted to brag about Juvia for a while? Here's your chance. We can brag to Wendy tomorrow."

Natsu's eyes narrowed at the blonde-haired woman yet Gray could sense there was something else underlying there but he hastily grabbed the chance.

"I don't mind coming out, if Juvia doesn't mind?" He hated that he felt unsure. Before, he would have assumed that Juvia wouldn't mind him go anywhere with her, to be honest – she was always the one to ask him to places.

"No, Juvia doesn't mind if Gray-sama joins in," her smile was brighter and he felt relief surge through him. "Only if he really wants to come, and he and Natsu-san cannot fight. Not if they want Juvia to drown them."

The smile she gave him was friendly but he couldn't help but shiver at the underlying threat. Glancing at Natsu saw that he felt the same while Lucy just giggled behind her hand.

"Great! We'll meet at the restaurant at 7.30pm. That will give Juvia and me time to get ready!"

With that, Lucy dragged Juvia out of the Guild, leaving behind two bewildered men before they shared a look of confusion that quickly descended back into a glare, obviously not forgetting their fight.

Then Erza showed up, chopping her hands over their heads.

~~The Devious Game~~

At 7.20pm, Gray stood in front of the restaurant and tried his hardest not to remove his top as he tugged at the collar. He was nervous and flustered and it was not him.

He was cool, he was practically made of ice, and Gray Fullbuster did not get nervous.

"Chill out Popsicle brain," Natsu's voice cut into his thought and he turned to see Natsu standing next to him, looking surprisingly smart in a pair of black slacks with a white shirt, black vest and a black suit jacket.

He was dressed in something similar, only he wore a dark blue vest.

"And don't strip!" Natsu slapped the back of his head with a fierce glare before his eyes darted about. "Juvia was adamant that we behave ourselves. That includes no stripping!"

"I'm not stripping!" Gray retaliated by chopping a hand over Natsu's head.

"Why you-" Natsu reached up to grab his collar only for a throat clearing to bring them both to a stop, frozen in their spot before they looked over to see Juvia and Lucy were standing near them, both with a determined look in their eyes.

"Ladies!" Natsu chuckled nervously before he and Gray stepped away and smoothed out their clothes.

Lucy merely sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose then looked over at Juvia, who just looked torn between being amused and resigned.

"Maybe we should just have celebrated ourselves," Lucy told Juvia, drawing her attention before she smiled deviously. "I bet it would have been more fun." She finished with a wink, Juvia's cheeks flushed and Gray felt his jaw drop.

Natsu merely clapped Gray on the back, slapping him out of his confusion as he laughed.

"You two look beautiful tonight," Natsu told them and Gray had to agree.

Lucy wore a simple pale pink dress – it almost matched her guild mark. The hem stopped just past mid-thigh with thick straps banding around her neck and she wore a darker shade high heels.

Her blonde hair was loose around her shoulders, her bangs held back from her face with simple silver pins.

Juvia wore a light blue floor length dress with her usual high split, the straps wrapping around her shoulders. Her curls pulled back in a ponytail with strands framing her face. She wore dark blue high-heels showing off her legs – those legs that liked to haunt his dreams.

It took Gray aback to see her without a hat and her knee-high boots that he had to remind himself to swallow. She was always beautiful but seeing her dressed up made his heart stutter painfully.

A sharp nudge to his side – a gift from Natsu – made him look at the other man to see the annoyed look.

"Don't they look beautiful?" He asked, nudging his head in the directions of the girls.

Gray looked back at them before he nodded. He straightened up and held out his hands, holding up two ice roses.

"You two look amazing tonight," He told them, his eyes lingering on Juvia's, who stared up at him before she smiled shyly, taking one of the roses he offered.

"At least you came prepared," informed Lucy, taking the other offered rose.

Are you saying you didn't like my presents earlier?" Natsu asked with a grin, making both girls blush before they giggled and Gray had to look at Natsu, wondering what the hell he was missing here.

"Let's go in before Natsu-san decides to roast his food out here," Juvia told them. "Beside, Juvia has been wanting to come here for a while."

"This is supposed to be one of the best places to eat." Lucy took Juvia's hand – again with the handholding – as she pulled the water mage.

"After you, Ice Princess," Natsu mocked a bow.

"Piss off, Fire Brain," Gray muttered as he entered the restaurant.

"No wonder women think you are Prince Charming with that charming attitude you have," Natsu rebuked as he followed Gray in.

All four of them stopped to admire the interior. The restaurant was a fancy one – and one that could be difficult to get into. But Fairy Tail had gained a lot of favour within their town that they were often given chances like this.

"It's beautiful," Juvia stared with wide eyes and a smile.

"Yeah," Lucy breathed in agreement, her own eyes scanning the area.

"And I bet the food will be great too, but we're not gonna know by standing around here," Natsu urged them over to the waiting lady, who had an amused smile on her face. "Party of 4, Fairy Tail."

"Please follow me." She led them over to the table in the corner. Gray and Natsu helped the women take their seats before sitting themselves. They ordered their drinks and the woman left them.

"So the mission was against a Dark Guild?" Gray finally got round to asking the question that had been burning on his tongue for most of the day.

"It was a small one, Gray-sama," Juvia assured him.

"They were creating havoc on the small town they built their guild in. Extorting the residents, charging high prices even for the smallest jobs," Lucy explained with a look of disgust.

"The Mayor of the town finally had enough of them, especially after they tried to attack his family in order to bring him to heel. So he hired us." Natsu grinned.

"That was the reason there was so little information on the flyer," Juvia added. "The Mayor did not want to run the risk of it reaching the Master's ears."

"And here I thought they were beginning to die out," Gray remarked sarcastically with a shake of his head.

"You should have seen Juvia though," Natsu spoke up with a grin. "She dominated the field. Well – after me, of course."

"Pff," Lucy laughed, "I say the two of you were on equal level," she told the now glaring Fire Mage. "At least she didn't blow out the windows."

"Nah, she just flooded the building," Natsu grinned with a wink toward Juvia. "Dude, you should have seen it. It was  _awesome_." He punched a fist into his open palm. "Damn, just thinking about it gets me all fired up."

"Please, cool down," Juvia pleaded with the boy, especially when his fist went up in flames.

"Yeah, we don't need you setting the place on fire," Gray added in, getting a sheepish grin from the other man as he let his fire go out.

Juvia shot him a grateful look before she looked back at Lucy, who had taken her hand again.

"She was so beautiful with her water," Lucy's eyes shimmered with adoration. "She was kicking ass left and right, it was just… _beautiful._ "

Where the hell was his drink? He beginning to feel hot again as he tugged at the collar of his shirt once more, praying he didn't accidentally become shirtless as he did.

He did not want to be on the receiving end of the women if that were to happen.

Thankfully, as if reading the situation, the waitress turned up with their drinks – Gray hastily taking a long gulp – and handed them the menus before leaving them once more.

"Thirsty?" Lucy remarked with a sly grin over her menu.

"Are you okay, Gray-sama?" Juvia's look was one of concern as she peered at him over her own menu.

"Just a little warm," he assured her with a small smile before he ducked his head behind his menu, his eyes bulging at the prices before he snuck a look over to Natsu to see he was looking the same.

"I didn't know this place was so damn expensive," Natsu hissed to him. "Look at the price for a salad!"

"I know, right? Can anyone actually afford this?"

"Those who have money to throw about?"

"Did you get a good reward?"

"Heck yeah, why else do you think I'm here?"

"Are you two okay?" They both looked over their menus to see the women were now looking concerned.

"Just peachy," Natsu assured them. Lucy merely gave him a side-glance before she returned to her own menu, worrying her bottom lip while Gray looked at Juvia to see she look unsure.

"Did you hear any food recommendation?" Gray asked the water mage. Juvia's eyes snapped up to meet his before she shrugged then looked at Lucy, who looked at the others with a sheepish grin.

"Cana was the one to recommend this place." Natsu choked on his drink, spluttering as Lucy threw him a napkin while Juvia looked at him with a mix of horror and concern.

Juvia reached over at the same time as Gray and their hands bumped together as they tried to pat Natsu's back. Gray felt his cheeks heat up at her touch before he pulled his hand away and she rubbed his back.

"Ca…Cana was the one to recommend this place?" Natsu croaked out before he cleared his throat.

"Mira said Laxus brought Cana here at some point. Apparently it was really nice," Lucy explained and it made sense to the men.

Of course Laxus would bring Cana here. He was an S-Class Wizard. He could afford this.

"Do you know what you want?" Gray decided to change the conversation.

"Hmm, Cana didn't really have any recommendation on the food," Lucy admitted.

"Just the alcohol," Juvia admitted with a small smile, eliciting an eye-roll from Gray.

"I like the sound of this meat dish," Natsu leaned over next to Juvia, brushing close to her arm as he pointed it out. Lucy also leaned over to see and she nodded approvingly.

"I want to try this pasta dish," she leaned over, pointing it out on Juvia's menu and Gray thought he was going to freeze the table right there and then.

Did they really need to be that close to her? Couldn't they just told her what they were pointing at instead of leaning in like that?

"How about you, Gray-sama? Have you made up your mind?" Juvia's dark eyes met his and he gave her a strained smile, looking down at the menu for something to catch his eye then he spotted something.

"This is pie sounds good. How about you?" he looked at Juvia, to see she was smiling.

"Juvia thinks she will have the fish," she closed the menu before she frowned, "Though this place is more expensive than Juvia thought." She gave Lucy a concerned look as the blonde-haired woman continued to look through the menu.

"Tell me about it," Natsu muttered.

"We should have asked Mirajane," Lucy agreed, "She would have had a better offer."

"Too late now," Natsu sighed. "We're here, might as well enjoy it."

"Ooh, why don't we get our meals and we can share?" Lucy asked, "that way if we don't finish off our meals, Natsu can have the left overs."

"Ooh, Juvia likes that idea," Juvia spoke up, smiling as she looked at Lucy.

"We can feed each other," Lucy shifted her chair a little closer to Juvia, making sweat break out on Gray's neck. "We could even share desserts, I wouldn't mind watching that."

Juvia bit her lower lip and Gray grabbed his glass once more, taking another long gulp.

Fuck his life, and fuck this moment. What the hell was he getting into? Was he seriously going to have to fight Lucy to get Juvia back? Since when was Lucy interested in Juvia?

"Sounds like a good idea," Natsu spoke up, grinning at the girls. "You know me; I always like a good show." He winked at them and Gray had to fight to stop his jaw from dropping.

Just what the hell were they up to during the mission? Clearly there was something going on here.

Wait – they invited him out with them…did that mean they wanted to…

"Gray-sama?" Juvia's voice broke into his panic thoughts and he looked up at her. "What would you like to order for dessert?" She frowned, tilting her head slightly. "Are you alright? You look a little pale."

"Yeah, are you sure you are alright?" Lucy asked as she leaned into Juvia, her chest brushing against Juvia's arm and Gray gulped, taking another long gulp of his drink then discovered, to his dismay, that he had finished it.

"I'm fine," He croaked out, frantically flagging down a passing waiter, giving him the glass and asking for another drink. "It's a little warm tonight, isn't it?"

"Hmm, I supposed you could Natsu-san is heating the place up," Juvia spoke up with a fond smile toward Natsu. "He is quite handy whenever you get cold."

Natsu just winked and grinned at Juvia while Gray struggled to keep his ice under his control and not give into his urge to strip right there and then.

_Damn it, where was his drink?_

As if reading his mind, the waiter turned up with a new drink for Gray and took everyone's order before disappearing again. Gray hoped that their meals wouldn't take as long as it did for them to wait on drinks.

"Anyway," Natsu clapped his hands with a grin, "You should come with us on our next mission so you can see just how much we love Juvia."

Gray choked on his drink, the liquid going down the wrong way as he coughed, grabbing the napkin to cover his mouth.

"Gray-sama!" squealed Juvia as she made to get up from her seat but Lucy had beaten her to the punch and patted his back, giving him an amused smile as he cleared his throat.

"Sorry, I'm fine now," he could still see the concern in Juvia's eyes and gave her a warm smile, "I promise."

Juvia relented and sat back down, giving him a soft nod as she did.

"Her wall of water is amazing," Lucy joined in with Natsu. "She crushed those mages before they even had a chance to react. Natsu helped out by setting the place on fire."

"And Lucy-san was a great help with deciphering the runes," Juvia interjected as she looked at now blushing Lucy.

"Ahh, that was nothing," Lucy brushed off, waving a hand.

"No, no, Juvia is right. If it hadn't been for you, we would have been trapped in those runes," Natsu jumped in.

"Well, you both sure showed your appreciation that night, didn't you?" she asked them slyly that Gray thought he was going to crawl under the table.

Were they really flirting in front of him? Lucy looked at him with a brilliant smile. "Juvia has magical fingers." Did she just purr the last word?

Well – there went all the blood from his face as he gaped at Lucy, unsure if he was really hearing what he was hearing.

Glancing at Juvia, he was dumbfounded to see she was blushing, one hand to her cheek while the other clutch her glass.

"She does, doesn't she?" chuckled Natsu. Gray felt the urge to glare at the Fire Salamander and took a sip of his drink while watching Juvia take a gulp of her own.

Well, it was nice to see someone other than him getting flustered.

Their dinner arrived, much to Gray's relief, though when they spotted how tiny the meals were, Natsu had issues with it.

"What the hell is this?" he hissed, keeping his voice low. "Never mind left overs, this isn't going to be enough to fill up  _Lucy!_ "

"Are we really paying this amount of money for this meal?" Gray had to ask. He looked up to see even the girls were having trouble wrapping their heads around the meals.

Even Gray knew that Juvia ate nearly enough the same amount as Natsu and Lucy could pack away her meals when she was hungry.

"I guess so…" Lucy said as she sighed then picked up a fork. "Maybe the taste is worth the cost?" She speared some pasta and tried it, her eyes widening in delight.

"I'm guessing it is," muttered Natsu before he grabbed his own fork.

"You need to try this!" Lucy speared some more pasta and held the fork to Juvia's lips, who parted them and tried the offered the pasta, and made a moan that nearly had Gray dropping his fork.

"That good?" Natsu asked; bewildered before he looked at Lucy, who repeated her actions and held out the fork this time to Natsu's lips.

Natsu never took his eyes away from Lucy's gaze as he took the offered food, making Gray wishing there was somewhere he could hide.

He really did not sign up for this kind of flirting.

And it didn't stop there. Juvia had offered her food. Natsu offered his food and Gray ended up sharing his food, wishing that Juvia's lips didn't look so damn good around his fork.

Then desserts came and Gray knew he was in his own personal hell, especially when Juvia scooped some whipped cream onto her finger only for Lucy to take the proffered finger, taking her time in licking every inch.

Gray thinks he might have forgotten to breathe for a moment.

Then there was Juvia with Natsu's chocolate cake, the way her eyes rolled up into the back of her head made him freeze and shatter his spoon, startling everyone into looking at him with wide eyes as he stared at the offending utensils as if it had betrayed him.

Feeling their eyes, he looked up and offered them a sheepish grin before clearing his throat as a waiter came forward, giving him a new spoon.

Lucy and Natsu just looked at him with devilish smiles while Juvia's cheeks took on an interesting flush.

In short, it had been a hell of his making. He should have known better, should have just asked Juvia to come out with him rather than accepting Lucy's invitation.

Dinner was finally over and they asked for the cheque, all of them nearly falling out of their chair at the final total before grumbling as they pooled their hard-earned money into the tray and left the restaurant.

"Next time, I vote we ask Mirajane where to go," Natsu raised his arms over his head, stretching his limbs, when they stepped outside. "She would have a better idea of what is more in our range. Food was great, but not worth that cost."

"Mmh," Lucy leaned into Natsu's side, wrapping her arms around his arm and looked up at him with a smile. "It was worth showing Juvia how much we adore her, though."

"Juvia thinks Natsu-san should take Lucy-san home before she falls asleep," Juvia remarked with an amused smile.

"We can still walk you home," Lucy protested, even though her eyes were slowly blinking. "We can still show more of our appreciation."

"I will walk her home," Gray stood forward, having taking off his jacket, keeping a tight grip on it by placing it over his arm.

"Are you sure, Gray-sama? Juvia does not wish to put you out. You must be tired too."

"No, it's okay. The fresh air will do me good," he assured her. She stared up at him before she smiled shyly then nodded, looking toward Natsu and the near sleeping Lucy.

"Fine," Natsu threw a hand up. "I'll take the sleeping princess home. We'll see you tomorrow at the guild? We can see about taking another mission!"

"It's a bit soon to be getting fired up, is it not?" Lucy mumbled, rubbing her cheek against Natsu's arm.

"If Natsu didn't get fired up over every little thing, I would be worried," Gray remarked dryly, getting a glare from the man in question while Juvia giggled, covering her mouth.

"Good night you two," she told them, accepting the hugs that both of them gave her. Gray had to clench his fist when they both kissed her cheek, leaving their lips lingering just a little longer than he thought necessary.

Juvia waved goodbye as Natsu encouraged Lucy to climb onto his back while Gray held out his arm, allowing Juvia to slip her own arm through, another blush tinting her cheeks.

"It sound like you had good fun on your mission with Natsu and Lucy," Gray told her when they started walking.

Juvia smiled brightly up at him.

"They were fun; Juvia didn't think she had laughed as much as she did with them. Happy also provided plenty of entertainment."

"Would you be willing to come with Erza, Wendy and I the next time?" he asked, surprising even himself.

Juvia looked up at him with wide eyes before she smiled brightly, so infectious that Gray felt his own cheeks heat up as he smiled back.

"Juvia would love to! Natsu-san and Lucy-san were always talking about the missions they shared with you."

"Then it's a deal. We can talk with Natsu and Lucy tomorrow and see about all of us going."

Juvia looked radiant and she hugged his arm in thanks before she looked forward and shivered a little. Gray thought she looked a bit cold.

"Here," Gray removed his arm from hers, then his jacket from his arm and wrapped it around Juvia's shoulders, making her look up at him with wide eyes before she smiled softly, her hands going to the lapels.

"Thank you, Gray-sama," her voice was soft and he cleared his throat as he looked away, scratching the back of his neck. "Are you sure you are okay, Gray-sama? You have been blushing quite a bit tonight."

"I'm fine," he assured her, not wanting her to worry. She tilted her head slightly before she nodded and they both started walking again.

However, this time, Gray wrapped an arm around her waist, eliciting a startled gasp from the water mage but stared straight ahead, feeling his cheeks heat up again when she looked up at him.

Soon, they came to a water fountain, Juvia had pulled him to a stop, walking over to the fountain, and she smiled softly.

Gray followed close by, watching as she pulled a coin from her purse, closed her eyes as she mumbled something under her breath then kissed the coin before flipping it into the air.

It landed in the water, glittering amongst the rest of the coins, he peered at her curious, and she smiled, obviously seeing him out the corner of her eye.

"Juvia promised Asuka-chan, every time Juvia walk by the fountain, Juvia would make a wish upon a coin and throw it in," she explained. "It turned out that Romeo-kun used to do it when…" her smile turned sad, "When we were gone." She turned to face Gray. "She says it's to help bring good luck to Fairy Tail." She laughed softly.

"It is weird, isn't it?" he asked and she looked up at him but he was looking down at the all the coins – wondering how many of them belonged to Romeo. "Knowing we missed 7 years. We haven't aged, we haven't changed," he looked down at her, "Yet the world moved on and they have a different sense of time from us."

Juvia laughed sadly.

"Juvia still gets mixed up whenever someone says something from 7 years ago and she still thinks it was a year ago." She sighed softly and looked up at the night sky. "We missed so much."

And he didn't want to miss anything again. The thought startled him as he stared down at Juvia, the stars making her eyes glitter.

"Juvia," one hand went to her arm and she brought her head down to meet his gaze when he raised his other hand, watching as she held her breath.

Gray gently brushed his thumb against her cheek before he leaned in; hesitating for a moment then pressed his lips against hers.

She responded in kind, their kiss slow and soft. His placed his hands on her waist, holding her close as she clutched his vest.

It was strange; he had always thought their first kiss would have been in the heat of a battle. He wasn't going to lie and say he hadn't thought about kissing her after a heated battle.

But not now, he wanted to take his time, to take it slow.

Soon they broke the kiss, Gray resting his forehead against hers, still stunned over the fact that he had kissed her, that he had open himself up enough to receive kiss.

Juvia giggled, making Gray rear away from her in confusion. She smiled as she tilted her head.

"Natsu-san and Lucy-san were right. Gray-sama was jealous."

He stared at her, bewildered before he frowned. "Juvia thinks their plan to get Gray-sama to confess worked after all. Even though it was a kiss instead. Then again, Natsu-san did say Gray-sama is a man of action."

Gray's jaw dropped as he stared at the smiling water mage before it dawned on him before he rolled his eyes.

Of course,  _now_  everything makes sense and he wanted to hit himself for being an idiot.

Juvia just pulled him back down for another kiss and he decided that his questions could wait for later. Much later.

Meanwhile, peering around the corner…

"I knew it would work," Natsu said with a pleased smile.

"You are an idiot," Lucy told him from where she was on his back before she sighed happily, resting her head on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck. "She does look happy, right?"

"She better be, or Popsicle Brain will have me to answer to," he muttered. Lucy merely laughed before she turned her head and kissed his cheek.

Natsu turned his head to meet her gaze with a curious one of his own, tightening his grip on her thighs.

"You can be romantic when you want to be, and you certainly can be devious too!"

"Look who's talking," Natsu lightly jostled Lucy, "I was beginning to think  _you_  wanted to take Juvia to bed. You certainly laid it on thick."

"She is pretty good with her fingers, isn't she?" Lucy asked and Natsu rolled his eyes.

"And I am surprise that Ice Prick didn't freeze the entire restaurant whenever you made a comment like that."

"You were the one who told me that she gave really good head massages," Lucy pointed out.

"Which helped with my motion sickness," Natsu retorted as he turned around and started walking toward Lucy's home, "You tried to steal her magic fingers!"

Lucy merely laughed while Natsu grinned.

It was a job well done, and they were going to take the night to themselves, leaving the rest up to Juvia and Gray.

"You know…" Lucy started, breaking into Natsu thoughts, "Do you have anyone else you want to pair up?"

Natsu laughter filled the night air.

The End

So – this ended up taking a weirder turn than I thought it was going to. (and it was a pain in the ass to write. I got stuck –  _Stuck!_  – and realised that I did not plan this out well.)

I hope you liked it.

And I'm going to lie down for the next few days because fuck this one-shot. It was a pain the ass to write. (and I did not mean for it to be as long as it got. Lucy & Natsu took over the story!)

And don't expect the other chapters to be the same length. ~~Not if I have any say over it.~~


	2. The Woman of Rain

Title: The Woman of Rain

Pairings: Gray/Juvia – kind of…

Rating: Teen

Summary: Every time he saw her – it was raining

Timeline: University AU (not that you can really tell, I guess)

Warnings: AU

Author's Notes: Prompt from Tumblr. This really wasn't how I started out but hey, I go with the flow.

Remember how I said I was going to lie down and recover from the last chapter? Yeah, me neither. Enjoy this really strange one-shot.

To the Anonymous, who wanted a Gruvia University-love (though this kinda went in a whole new direction)

'The Woman of Rain'

The first time he saw her – he had been in his classroom and staring out of the window, bored with the lesson, and admiring the rain when he spotted her down below.

She had her face turned up toward the rain, her light blue hair – which made his eyebrow arch – and clothes were soaked yet she didn't seem to care from the carefree smile she had on her face.

The funny thing that struck him was – she looked like she was  _home_.

The teacher called his attention and when he turned to look back, she was gone – as if she never existed in the first place and he wondered if he truly saw her.

The second time he saw her – he had been at ice hockey practice. Thunder and lightning roared outside, catching everyone in the ice rink off guard.

There had been a few muttering – mostly from his team-mates – when the heavy downpour of rain thundered on the roof and he knew, right there and then, that they would be staying until it was over.

He came off the rink and took a seat only to catch sight of the light blue hair. Turning his head sharply, he saw her sitting on a bench on the other side of the rink.

She had her head bowed, studying furiously with her books scattered about her. Every now and then, when thunder rumbled above them, a smile would pull at her lips and she would close her eyes, as if nature was calling for her.

Then she locked eyes with his and even from the distance – he could see her eyes were blue - then the lights went out, eliciting surprise shouts from everyone in the building before the lights flickered back on. There was silence before scattered laugher filled the building.

He wasn't laughing, his eyes trained on the empty spot across from him. There was no trace of her, her books gone and he wondered once more, was she real?

The third time he saw her, he was convinced he was losing his mind. It had been the hallway, he was outside one of his classroom with his friends, talking about the upcoming game and moaning about the weather – it had been raining non-stop – as they stared out of the window.

Then the smell of rain and lavender caught his attention and he turned his head to see her walking past them, her laugher tinkling as she spoke on the phone.

Her smile brightened her features; her blue eyes alit with happiness. The thing that caught his attention was her phone. It had a dark blue case with a raindrop accessory attached to it and it made him think of the rain again.

Then she was lost when someone stepped into his line of vision. When they moved, she was no longer in sight and he turned his head to notice – with surprise – that it was no longer raining and the sun was shining.

The fifth time he saw her, he had been sitting on a table with bunch of his teammates surrounding him while they were having their lunch. The rain was coming down hard outside yet something caught his eye and he turned his eyes.

There she was again, standing in the courtyard with a brilliant smile on her face, her face tilted up toward the sky when all of a sudden, a young man with salmon pink spiky hair appeared out of nowhere, sweeping her up in a bear hug then he spun around.

He could see her laughing as she clung to the man's neck, holding on before he set her on her feet and pulled away.

She reached up on tiptoes, cupping the man's cheeks as he laughed before resting his forehead against hers. She closed her eyes, seemly at peace and he watched as the man kissed her forehead.

For a strange moment, jealousy surged through him and he wondered why. He didn't know her personally, just seen her around and he sighed.

His attention was diverted for a moment as one of his teammates asked him a question. He returned to the scene only to watch as the two of them interlinked arms and walked off, her head thrown back as with laugher while the man gestured wildly with his free hand.

When they disappeared out of his sight, it had been the last time he had seen her for a while. The weather had cleared up, bright sun and warm wind.

Students had been scattered over the courtyards, the ice rink, the hallway, and the lunchroom that he constantly found himself looking for the familiar blue hair yet there had been no sign of her that it made him question.

He wondered, maybe she was the rain.

The sixth time he saw her, he knew she was real and he wasn't imagining her. She was sitting right there, at a table in the library.

He was at the bookcase that was near her table and he could see her features more clearly. Her blue hair curled around her face and shoulders. Her dark blue eyes focused on her work.

He itched to go over and to talk to her. To hear her voice for the first time. To know that she was indeed real and he hadn't been going crazy this whole time.

For the first time since he saw her, it wasn't raining outside, the sunlight streaming through the high windows to give the students plenty of lights.

He watched as she got up from her seat, still studying the book as she headed toward his section and he frantically turned away, pretending to scan the books when a small figure bumped into him, making him drop the book he picked up.

Scrambling out an apology, he knelt down to pick up his book only to notice another book was lying on the ground, and a small hand reached out to grab it.

He recognised the blue and silver bangle – perfect for the woman who was alive when it was raining – and looked up to see her dark blue eyes meeting his.

She picked up her book and he grabbed the chance.

"Hi, I'm Gray Fullbuster," he held out a hand and rewarded with a sweet smile as she took his hand.

"Juvia Lockser," she introduced herself and at that moment there, Gray knew his future had changed its course, and he couldn't find it in himself to complain.

The End/To Be Continued? (I kind of have an idea to a sequel)

And this was a short chapter. Bless my heart.

(and don't expect daily updates. I finish this pretty quickly - surprisingly)


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